Tag Archives: Europe

UK companies involved in European Commission space programmes face an uncertain future according to media reports over the last week. The Financial Times reported that the European Commission wanted two key clauses in the contracts for work on the next part of the â‚¬10 bn Galileo Satellite Navigation System. These would allow the Commission to:

Cancel the contracts, without penalty, of any supplier who is no longer based in an European Union (EU) member state; and then

Charge that supplier all costs associated with finding their replacements.

Clearly, this poses a huge risk to UK companies given the fact that the UK has indicated its intention to leave the EU in 2019 by triggering Article 50. We wrote about the potential impacts of Brexit last year, and whilst we did pick up concerns over Galileo we didn’t see this coming!

Should the UK Space Industry be concerned?Yes!

Despite reports to the contrary, this does not mean we are leaving the European Space Agency (ESA). We are very much remaining part of ESA, something that was confirmed at the ministerial in December. This solely relates to programmes owned, and funded, by the European Union (EU). However, it is concerning for two key reasons:

Anyone who has tried to negotiate contract terms with large governmental organisations will be aware that it tends to be a binary take it or leave it scenario. Therefore, if these clauses are in the contract, then it is highly likely companies will have to sign up to them to get the work.

It may not just be Galileo, the Copernicus Programme could be next. Copernicus is also an EUÂ programme, and therefore it has to be a possibility that they may apply the same clauses to future Copernicus tenders. Galileo isn’t something Pixalytics is involved with, but if this was extended to Copernicus we’d be potentially impacted and would need to make choices.

What CanÂ UK Companies Do?The options are limited:

Bid anyway! Accept the potential financial risk, or hope that it will get resolved within the various Brexit negotiations. Given the size of these contracts, it will be a brave CEO who goes down this route.

Not bidding for any Galileo contract is probably the financially prudent option, but equally it removes a significant revenue stream.

Move to another European Country. I think there will be a number of companies who will be looking at moving some, or all, of their operations to another EU member state.

Any Causes For Optimism?Not really, but there are tiny strands of hope.

Security â€“ A key issue with Galileo is security. Currently, all EU members have agreements on security and when the UK leaves the EU, it leaves that agreement. Of course, security is just one of hundreds of agreements the UK will be hoping to discuss with the EU through Brexit negations. If security agreements are reached with the UK, maybe the positionÂ will change.

UK Election â€“ Whilst writing this blog, the UK Prime Minister has announced a General Election in June. Parliamentary changes may influence the type of Brexit we have, but again it is highly unlikely.

It was fairly obvious, despite the contrary political rhetoric, that Brexit would have huge consequences on the UKâ€™s relationship with Europe.

The UKâ€™s space industry looks as though it will be at the forefront of those consequences. Forget 2019, the bite of Brexit is being felt today!

Sentinel-2 Image of Plymouth from 2016. Data courtesy of Copernicus/ESA.

Sentinel-2B wasÂ launched at 01:49 GMT on the 7th March from Europeâ€™s Spaceport in French Guiana. Itâ€™s the second of a constellation of optical satellites which are part of the European Commissionâ€™s Copernicus Programme.

Its partner Sentinel-2A was launched on the 23rd June 2015, and has been providing some stunning imagery over the last eighteen months like the picture of Plymouth above. We’ve also used the data within our own work. Sentinel-2B carries an identical Multispectral Imager (MSI) instrument to its twin with 13 spectral bands:

4 visible and near infrared spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 10 m

6 short wave infrared spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 20 m

3 atmospheric correction bands with a spatial resolution of 60 m

With a swath width of 290 km the constellation will acquire data in a band of latitude extending from 56Â° South around Isla Hornos, Cape Horn, South America to 83Â° North above Greenland, together with observations over specific calibration sites, such as Dome-C in Antarctica. Its focus will be on continental land surfaces, all European islands, islands bigger than 100 square kilometres, land locked seas and coastal waters.

The satellites will orbit 180 degrees apart at an altitude of 786 km, which means that together they will revisit the same point on Earth every five days at the equator, and it may be faster for parts of southern Europe. In comparison, Landsat takes sixteen days to revisit the same point.

With all Copernicus data being made freely available to anyone, the short revisit time offers opportunities small and micro Earth Observation businesses to establish monitoring products and services without the need for significant investment in satellite data paving the way for innovative new solutions to the way in which certain aspects of the environment are managed. Clearly, five day revisits are not â€˜real-timeâ€™ and the spatial resolution of Sentinel data wonâ€™t be suitable for every problem.There is joint work between the US and Europe, to have complementarity with Landsat-8, which has thermal bands, and allows a further opportunity for cloud-free data acquisitions. Also, commercial operators provide higher spatial resolution data.

At Pixalytics weâ€™re supporters of open source in both software and imagery. Our first point of call with any client is to ask whether the solution can be delivered through free to access imagery, as this can make a significant cost saving and allow large archives to be accessed. Of course, for a variety of reasons, it becomesÂ necessary to purchase imagery to ensure the client gets the best solution for their needs. Of course, applications often include a combination of free to access and paid for data.

Nextâ€™s week launch offers new opportunities for downstream developers and weâ€™ll be interested to see how we can exploit this new resource to develop our products and services.